Friday, September 5, 2014

✦ Below is an introduction to the terrific therapeutic nature photography program In a New Light, which currently includes the projects "Women of the Valley", "Lakes in New Light", "Northwoods Wildlife Safari", and "Dooskaabi" (for at-risk Native American teens). The site includes videos and photographs of participating children and teens whose work is documented in In a New Light: The Art and Nature of Healing(see cover of book to right). The program is conducted jointly with the National Park Service.

✦ If you're visiting Washington, D.C., and have time to visit one of my favorite museums, The Phillips Collection, take time to see Vesna Pavlovic's Illuminated Archive, on view through September 28. Part of the ongoing Intersections project, the work uses imagery from the "Giacometti" exhibition at The Phillips in 1963. Pavlovic's installation comprises "a 35-foot transparent curtain of digitally manipulated images and four related ink-jet photographs" (description at artist's Website). A video is available at the artwork link. There's a lot to explore at the artist's Website!

✦ The video below highlights the "LandMarks" project that brought together Native American and Indigenous Australian artists to participate in collaborative printmaking. In addition to footage of the printing process, the video describes the project and shows images of the artists. The "LandMarks" exhibition, comprising 20 new lithographs and monotypes from the project and other works by participants, continues at Tamarind Gallery through September 26. See the exhibition link for artists' names and images. The works are for sale.

Exhibitions Here and There

✭ Opening today and continuing through February 2, 2015, at The Rubin Museum, New York City, is "Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India". Described as the first museum exhibition examining Indian influences on Clemente's work, the show features some 20 paintings from the last 30 years and four newly created larger-than-life-size sculptures. Attention is given to how Clemente's own "personal visual language" relates to artistic themes (mythology, spirituality, sexuality) and narratives (violence, intrigue, love, jealousy, separation) in Indian art.

✭ Tomorrow is the opening of "Bridging the Past, Present, and Future: Recent Works by Sandra Ramos" at American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, D.C. Continuing through October 19, the shows features prints, video, collage, and installations. The Cuban artist is known for her craft and use of color, as well as her narrative approach to documenting her experiences in her native country.

— "Readymade@100", a juried celebration of the 100th anniversary of Marcel Duchamp's readymade concept in which contemporary artists expand on Duchamp's original idea. The works remain on view through October 19.

— "Memorial Modeling: Peter Belyi and Petr Shvetsov", installations that deliberately use rough materials and a brutalist approach to convey the Russian artists' experience of the Soviet Union's collapse. The show ends October 19.

— "Some Uses of Photography", which presents the work by four artists who are women (Jenn DePalma, Ding Ren, Siobhan Rigg, and Sandra Rottmann"). The show, which concludes December 14, examines how contemporary artists have incorporated photography within their art practices.

— "Sam Noto, Steel Sculpture: Anxiety and Hope", a show of large improvisational sculptures that are both serious and playful. This exhibit runs through March 15, 2015.

✭ Tonight at The Jerusalem Fund Gallery, Washington, D.C., is the opening reception for "Fractured Spring", a solo exhibition of Beirut-born Helen Zughaib's ongoing series Arab Spring. Featured are paintings, calligraphy, and installations that the artist has "fractured" to indicate her concern with the consequences of various movements ongoing throughout the Middle East. Her work is in numerous public and private collections, both here and abroad, and is well worth seeing.